- Your local library can be a great resource for information on African-American history. Take the entire family on a jaunt to the library and seek out books on prominent African-Americans. Some great ideas might be Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King Jr., Zora Neale Hurston, Harriett Tubman, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker and more. Assign each person in the family two or three people to read about and ask everyone to prepare short presentation for the rest of the family. This is home-based learning activity is fun because it's interactive and gives everyone in the household a role.
- Put several topics of interest to the current--and past--state of black America and put them into a jar. At the beginning of each week, draw a topic from the jar and give everyone in the home three or four days to some research about the topic. Then, at the end of the week, have a healthy, exciting discussion on the topic and require everyone to participate and back up their opinion with hard facts. Not only does this allow everyone a chance to express themselves verbally, but they also learn something in the process through research on the topic at hand.
- There are a number of important African-American movies that not only represent the various characteristics of the culture, but also present imagery of important moments in history. Rent some of these movies and talk about them at length once you've watched them. Encourage everyone to pinpoint their favorite and least favorite parts and why they felt the movie was so profound. Perhaps even allow everyone to come with a preferred alternative ending to some movies, depending on the subject matter. This will encourage critical thinking and the formation of opinions for everyone in the home. Some important and influential titles could include: "The Color Purple," "Roots," "Mississippi Burning," "Do The Right Thing," "Malcolm X," "Glory," "A Time To Kill," "Higher Learning," "Imitation of Life," "Cooley High" and "Boyz n the Hood."
